Ocean currents and polar front form 'moat' that keeps destructive mollusks at bay

By Susan Milius, 11:04 AM August 15, 2013

Quirks of ocean currents may have turned the waters around Antarctica into a rare sanctuary for undiscovered wooden shipwrecks, free of the destructive mollusks known as shipworms.

The front formed by the junction of frigid polar and warmer waters as well as a strong current circling the continent may block tiny shipworm youngsters from moving in, says Thomas Dahlgren of Uni Research, the University of Bergen’s partner research company in Norway.